Happily Never After
by Lady Syl
Summary: AU: Emily/Eowyn is a high school student who wants to play football. Mike/Merry wants to be on the team too, but the coach tells him he’s too short. She has a crush on Aaron/Aragorn, her brother Ethan/Eomer's best friend, but he’s engaged to Ashley/Arwen.


**Chapter 1**

"I feel very protective of you," whispers Edward vehemently. Well, no wonder. This Bella girl is completely helpless. How many times does she need to be saved? First, she almost gets herself smashed by a car. Then she ditches her friends to go wandering alone down a dark alley. Honestly, what was she expecting? I sigh a little too loudly and a couple of girls sitting in front of me turn around to glare at me. I'm in way over my head here. How can every girl in this theater be head over heels for a fictional vampire? Why did I ever let Claire talk me into seeing this movie? Maybe I can sneak out without her noticing. I glance over at my best friend. Her eyes are glued to the screen and she has this dreamy little smile on her face. Clearly, Edward Cullen has gotten to her too.

"I'm going to the bathroom," I mutter to Claire.

"Now?" she asks without taking her eyes off the screen. "But you'll miss one of the best parts, Emily!"

But I'm already halfway out of my seat. Unfortunately, Claire absolutely had to get here early to save the best seats, which means we're sitting right in the middle of the row. So I'm forced to climb over several girls on my way out. Every one of them shoots me a dirty look as I pass by. I try to ignore them until I suddenly feel something hit me right in the face. I can't believe it… someone's thrown a handful of popcorn at me! I look up furiously, trying to determine which direction it came from. I squint towards the back rows, but it's too dark to see anything. Normally, I would never let someone get away with something like that, but obviously, these girls are not in their right minds at the moment. Anyway, I've finally reached the end of the row. _Claire totally owes me for this_, I think as I stalk out of the theater and make my way towards the bathroom.

As I'm washing my hands, I glance up at my reflection and notice a piece of popcorn stuck to my shirt. Scowling, I brush it off. My blue eyes are rimmed with dark eyeliner and a bit of mascara, which I only put on at Claire's insistence. I'm wearing my long blonde hair in a ponytail. Claire is always trying to convince me to wear it down. She keeps telling me that I don't try hard enough. Unlike Claire, who'd never leave the house without spending at least an hour primping, I just don't see the point of making all this effort to impress some guy. It's strange how different the two of us are. Sometimes, I'm amazed the two of us are even friends. Actually, we probably wouldn't have been if our families didn't live next door to each other.

When my parents were both killed in a car accident several years ago, my brother Ethan and I moved in with our uncle. I don't really remember much, since I was only two years old at the time. Ethan was six though, so it was a lot harder on him. I don't know what we would have done if our uncle hadn't adopted us. Uncle Tom was still grieving for his wife at the time. She died a year earlier after a long battle against breast cancer, leaving him to raise their son Theodore alone. I can't even imagine how hard it must have been for him to lose his sister so soon afterwards. But he somehow managed to raise the three of us, and I think we all turned out alright (for the most part).

Don't get me wrong, but as much as I love my uncle, sometimes it can be hard being the only girl in a house full of men. There are some things guys just don't understand. But I always knew that whenever I was annoyed with Ethan or Teddy, I could escape to Claire's house for a while. _Claire, _I suddenly remember. I better get back, or I'm going to have to hear Claire's incredibly detailed narration of everything I missed.

Apparently, there's no getting out of it. I should have known I would be getting the instant replay the instant the movie was over. I listen as patiently as I can to Claire's excited chatter about the various virtues of Edward Cullen. She continues her never-ending monologue the length of the car ride home, no matter how many times I try to subtly steer the conversation in a different direction. Just when I think she's run out things to say, she takes a breath and launches into another story about one of the actors. She obsessively compares the movie to the book and goes on about how upset she is that they _completely ruined_ the best scenes.

"You know, Emily," she tells me, "you really should read the book. It's so much better than the movie. You can borrow my copy if you want."

She's already made this offer multiple times, but I always find some way of getting out of it. "I'll try," I say, afraid that if I don't agree with her she might keep going on about how wonderful the book is in order to get me to change my mind. Like that'll ever happen.

I'm relieved to see that we're pulling into the driveway of Claire's house. Finally, I can take a break from hearing about vampires for a while. Maybe she'll have forgotten about Twilight by the next time I see her. Not likely, but a girl can dream.

"Thanks for the ride," I say as I hop out of the car.

She waves to me as she pulls into her garage and I walk across the lawn to my front door. I let myself in and find Ethan lounging on the couch, watching a football game. I'm still not used to him being here when I get home. He's usually away at college, but he's on break now. It's nice that he'll be home for a few days. I throw myself on the couch next to him. "So who's playing?" I ask interestedly. _Finally, something worth watching,_ I think.

"The Colts and the Patriots," he replies, scooting over to make room for me.

"This should be good," I say, settling in. We sit quietly for a while, focusing on the game. When it cuts to commercial, I break the silence. "So, have you heard anything from Teddy?"

"No, not recently."

I feel a rush of anxiety at his words. Ever since my cousin was deployed to Afghanistan a few months ago, I haven't stopped worrying about him. Teddy tries to contact us whenever he gets a chance, but we're lucky to hear from him once a week. In between phone calls, I can't help agonizing over what might have happened. I'm terrified that one day we'll open the front door to find a uniformed officer standing on our porch.

Ethan must have sensed my concerns, because he looks over at me and says reassuringly, "Hey, no news is good news, right? Don't worry about Ted. He knows how to take care of himself."

"I know." I say softly. _I'm sure he'll call soon_, I tell myself. It hasn't even been a week yet. It's so frustrating being all the way over here, not knowing what's going on. I wish I could have been with him right now, not sitting around watching TV. The game's started again, but I'm not really paying attention anymore. I sit there for a few minutes longer, and then finally give up. "I'm going to bed."

"Good night, Em."

"Good night," I say and head up to my room.


End file.
